Argos Dumfries Church Place

We are an established foodbank since March 2015 and are part of the Trussell Trust network. We are a very busy little foodbank that operate Monday to Friday 9-5, we have 60 referral agencies referring clients who are in emergency crisis that require our 3 day parcels and further support inhouse with our on site services to escape this crisis. We also operate a small soup kitchen and cooking sessions to educate those most at need and experiencing food poverty. We have great support but are always looking for more food sources and my attention has been brought towards you and we would be so grateful if we could be lucky enough to be part of your scheme.

Food Train was created for older people by older people and we are very proud that 22 years on we are supporting more older people in our local communities than we ever have. In Dumfries and Galloway we offer four services to our customers:- a grocery shopping delivery service, a home support service where we help with small household jobs that our customers now find they struggle with, Meal Makers is our food share service where our Cooks provide a regular home cooked meal for a neighbour and we also offer a very successful befriending service. We support over 700 older people across the region and we can only do this because of the fantastic support we get from over 375 Food Train volunteers. Our volunteers are passionate, compassionate, hard working and very generous with their time. So far, we have 5 offices across Dumfries and Galloway, these are in Annan, Dumfries, Castle Douglas, Newton Stewart and Stranraer. Food Train is a Scottish Charity and a not for profit organisation so we must raise funds to cover all of our volunteer costs and funding for replacement delivery vans & equipment . Our volunteers support us in this area and regularly carry out exciting fundraising events which include coffee mornings, bag packing, sponsored walks and pub quizzes. We're looking for support from companies and local people to help us to continue to provide our vital services, vans and equipment. We are only able to provide these vital services because of the support of our 130 volunteers in the Dumfries area . Volunteers do give up their time freely but there are increasing costs attached to supporting volunteers. These increasing costs include travel expenses to get to and from their activity , volunteer training, ID badges and support in the form of regular team meetings giving vital support and guidance to the volunteers. The increase has had a huge impact on our outgoings but necessary in order to attract people who would like to volunteer With your help we can cover the cost of our amazing volunteers' expenses, empowering older people to stay independent and feel included and cared for within their communities.